Using an electronic device, a user can preview different documents without opening the application used to create, edit, or revise the document. For example, a preview application can be used to allow a user to preview files typically opened using Microsoft Word and Microsoft PowerPoint (applications available from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash.), Keynote and Pages (applications available from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.), and Acrobat (application available from Adobe Systems Inc. of San Jose, Calif.) using a single application. Because the preview application may have limited functionality when compared to the applications used to create or edit the documents (i.e., the preview application may only allow a user to view documents), the preview application can load faster than the applications and provide a more efficient use of the device resources for previewing documents.
Each time a user may wish to preview a document, the user can direct the electronic device to open distinct preview windows for each document. For example, the user can direct the electronic device to open a first preview window for an image document (e.g., a .tiff document), a second preview window for a first text document (e.g., a first .pdf document), and a third preview window for a second text document (e.g., a second .pdf document). This approach, however, may be burdensome when a user wishes to review information simultaneously in several documents via the preview application (i.e., this approach may force the user to switch between preview windows). In addition, to search for a particular term in each of the documents, the user may be required to perform individual searches in each window.